Oxygène

In The Meaning of Liff, a book by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, the authors take placenames from around the world and redefine them as words for things and events that don't have a word, but should. For instance, Shoeburyness, formerly an English village, gained the meaning "the vague uncomfortable feeling you get when sitting on a seat that is still warm from somebody else's bottom." Chicago now also refers to "the foul-smelling wind which precedes an underground railway train." The relevant one for today is Zeerust, a South African town and "the particular kind of datedness which afflicts things that were originally designed to look futuristic." Take the original Star Trek, where communicators only performed one task (unlike your phone), and a female uniform ended an inch below the knicker. Jean -Michel Jarre's Oxygène embodies the zeerust of 70s synth pioneer records, but this is not to its detriment. The public perception of Jean-Michel Jarre has always struck me as dissonant, but that could be the Anglo-American perception. Everyone aged 35 or over knows exactly who he is, but they would only be able to name one song (Oxygène Part 4, obviously). Owning this album would make you seem buffy, and any other album smacks of obsession. Yet he holds the world record for the most attended concert, a 1997 Moscow concert celebrating the 350th anniversary of the city, where over 3,500,000 attended: that's more than the populations of Estonia and Latvia combined. Three other concerts of his have previously held that record. So does Europe adore Jean-Michel Jarre? Dunno: I asked a Francophone friend, and he told me that whilst he has some kudos in France as a trailblazer, nobody would be able to tell you a track of his from the 80s or 90s. Anyway, back to the zeerust of Oxygène. The European synth pioneers who have attracted by far the most acclaim are the Germans: Kraftwerk, Neu!, Tangerine Dream, those chaps. The French, whilst not seen as inadequate in the field, have never attained anything like the veneration their synthy krautrock rivals command. But these synth pioneers, regardless of origin, all now sound affectionately quaint. By pursuing the future in their present, they would become anchored to their present, our past. Partly this is just the gamble you take on when you prognosticate so; much of New Romanticism's futurism hasn't bourne out in its favour. Partly this is a side-effect of influence: when others build on your innovations, they will inevitably progress beyond you. But whereas one might presume Oxygène has dated, I don't find that the case. Yes, it's evocative of a specific 70s era I never experienced, but that just adds to the charm. A 6-track, wholly electronic instrumental album by a French avant-garde composer becoming a worldwide smash? That sadly just doesn't happen anymore. Thanks, Adele! But is Oxygène actually good stripped of context? It wholly depends on how beautiful you find it. Eventually, I found it very beautiful indeed. Yes, it may take some time to appreciate this album fully, but by my third listen it had become a treat. I'm happy giving it 5 stars, but that just reflects my impression. If you consider it a bore and a chore, I won't argue to the contrary. See, we can all just get along!

Can go toe to toe with anything Ambient that Brian Eno ever did. incredibly powerful mood.

Let's all put on clothing made of foil and zoom around on our hoverboards

When I saw that all songs were called Oxygène, I knew it would be shit...

Doctor Who backing music made by some dude in his kitchen. No thanks.

Fancy hold music

I kept waiting for this album to begin and then it was over. C

1. Don’t be a dummy like me, listen to this record at night. This is night music. 2. The French are better at electronic music than just about anyone else on the planet (with the possible exception of the Germans in the 1970’s). 3. Why the fuck don’t I own this on vinyl? Discogs, here i come.

Jarre is one of the godfathers of electronic music, and this early album is one of his best. Its best known part is certainly Oxygène 4, but one really should listen to this album as a whole, not for individual tracks. Jarre is weaving a tapestry of ever-repeating patterns and introduces gradual over time, so it never gets boring. A classic masterpiece of electronic music. 5/5

Definately like if i was being abducted by an alien play this please

One of the OGs of the style. Still incredible even all these years later.

Inject this shit directly into my veins

Not as good as The Specials

This was a real gem, never heard of this cat before and had no idea how big he was. Some really interesting beats and sounds.

Yet another seminal electronic album, this time from the 70s. Six parts, all sublime. Utterly good stuff. Favorite is Oxygene, Pt. 5.

New space music for coding, blessed

Absolutely wonderful, a rich futuristic cityscape of an album. Definitely going to revisit.

Far out!! Would enjoy on shrooms!!! 🍄🍄‍🟫

I got Gary Numan through this project recently, and was bemoaning the lack of Vangelis on the list, so awarded him the title of "main source of synthesizer soundtracks of the future, from the past". That was shameful Jean-Michel Jarre erasure, and for that, I apologize. Oxygene is great! Exactly my jam. On the one hand, it's the scifi soundtrack to the future TV and movies have been promising me my whole life. On the other hand, it's a nostalgia machine that whisks me back to my childhood. Fave track - well, "Part IV" is the famous, nay, iconic section, but I really enjoyed the frenetic mania of "Part II" this time around. The second half of "Part V" is pretty badass, too....

Ambiance heaven

Superb. The most beatiful electronica soundscapes put together as a classic symphony, with its different themes being repeated in variations and mixed up maintaing an exciting atmosphere throughout the whole album

Really liked this surprisingly. I'm guessing pretty revolutionary for its' time? Listened with headphones so that made it a beautiful sci-fi soundscape journey.

I can respect the inspiration this album had and how groundbreaking this album may have been for its time, but definitely not for me. Sounds like a killer video game soundtrack maybe? I LOVE the album art though, would make a cool tattoo.

Incredible work. Atmospheric, cinematic. Very unique ethnic sound blended with very eclectic synth melodies

It's impressive how little it takes sometimes for music to be fantastic. Just some looping synths and drum beats manages to make this a fun album to listen to. Great atmosphere.

Interesting and unique! I enjoyed the psychedelic, floaty nature of it. Fun instrumentals overall. It did hang out in each section a bit too long at times, but it didn't annoy me too much. 'Oxygéne, Pt. 5' was my favorite, it got kinda funky.

This is an album I've meant to listen to for literally 5 years, when it was first recommended to me. Once I saw it was on the list, I decided to wait. I would say it was worth the wait. I didn't really care for Pt. 1 but it picked up for me with Pt 2 and stayed great through to the end. Pt 4 was the highlight for me, which I understand led to Jean-Michel Jarre's breakthrough. Would rate 4.5 but going to round up because I think it deserves it.

Liked it! Bit trippy

Dramatic, cinematic.I remember watching his outdoor light spectacles on TV as a kid - Oxygene Part 4 brings back those memories. Rich textures, Spacemen 3 learnt from this. It’s very different to Kraftwerk, this is more like waves, more atmospheric. No words, this is music to make you wonder. Dreamy. I love it. Nice to hear an album without lyrics that still very much holds the attention.

I think this album might be directly responsible for the entire sound of 80s sci-fi and some mainstream sound that's seen even today. For 1976, this shit feels way ahead of its time and it's also super enjoyable to listen to. Parts 3 and 6 are the best ones

Incredibly cool, it felt like I was on a musical journey. Particularly loved parts 2, 3 and 4. The section of 5 where you could hear the music going back and forth from ear to ear was rather fun as well

I liked this album. Listened to some of his work for the rest of the day, and this was probably the best.

awesome album, beginning to end 10/10 based af honestly can’t decide what my favorite song is

Obra maestra.

A cracking album!!

A masterpiece!

a cosmic journey

Awsome ambient electro album

The top review says more or less everything I would say. Everyone my age knows his name and this record, to a greater or lesser degree. A synth and electronic pioneer, and something I wouldn't think of listening to nowadays, I think of it in similar terms as Tubular Bells, except this is better as a whole piece. Some of it brings to mind Vangelis also, and could complement the Blade Runner soundtrack. Definitely feel like it holds up. And should be listened to as a whole.

In middle school I watched a lot of British stand up comedy DVDs. One of them was a Bill Bailey special with a lot of musical bits. In one of them he sampled himself saying "Jean Michelle Jare is a fraud. I never knew who that was until this album came up. So thank you 1001 Album Club, for answering a question I've had for many years. I listened to this in the shower, and it was excellent shower music. I'm giving it 4 stars for shower excellence. In most other contexts it would probably be a 3, but that was a really peaceful and bubbly sounding shower. I still don't know why he's a fraud though. Album cover: (A-) Cheesy but very rad.

Ayo this is pretty fucking neat. Early electronic that feels like floating through space? yes please, it's solid as fuck.

The inspiration for countless infomercial and documentary soundtracks. Despite a bit too much theremin vibrato and vaguely muddy mixing, this album is simultaneously the sound of the past and the sound of the future.

Kill jester.

Yeah this was cool from a sort of historical perspective. Clearly impactful, and yet I wouldn’t say this is something I’ll be eager to throw on in the future.

A different listen for me. This album used a lot of the ethereal sounds I associate with sci fi and space-themed movies. It was fun to have on in the background as I drove around on a rainy day but it's not my favorite type of music.

This is the day that Shane MacGowan died, so i have to admit i only made it through 3 of these Oxygene tracks before needing to bail out and listen to the Pogues for the rest of the day at full volume.

This almost put me to sleep like 8 times - and I was driving while I was listening to it. Maybe that's on me, but this album could have gotten me killed.

Electronica has been one of my lowest rated genres in this project so far, largely because it has been dance/clubbing rubbish rather than the real thing. This is the real thing.

En riktig klassiker! Femma!

Incredible in it's genre. It's ambient and atmosperic. I saw another review describing it as futuristic and I think it describes it well. It's a very retro futuristic sound and it could easily be used for a soundtrack for a sci-fi film from the 70s or 80s.

Давний фаворит. Доступный, но интересный и приятный.

EXCELLENT ambience. Love the futuristic sound, different tones, and the use of panning in Part 5.

amazing synth record in 1977, still sounds great today "di-di-di-dee-dee"

Heard this as a kid and I'm sure I changed my life even then. If not the father of electronic music, then at least an uncle once removed. Superb stuff!

A true masterpiece. More of a progressive project really, which is why it works so well. Electronic music that never gets bland and repetitive. Great album art as well

Heck yeah this rips. Really cool experience to listen to. Awesome find.

Klassiker! Vad vore Barnens ö utan Jean-Michel Jarre?

I've been looking forward to this since I saw it was on the list, getting a well-deserved 5, love it

This is a really cool early electronic album. Unless I am mistaken, JMJ is the performer of the largest concert in human history. Pretty cool album.

klassikko ja sen takia 5.

YAY WELCOME TO MY BEAUTIFUL PLANÈTE

4 is just superb. The rest are a beautiful accompaniment to the arrival of, and departure of, 4. It gave me goosebumps rediscovering it. I used to have this album. It was a delight, I saw and felt so many things on playing this music, the analogies the digital, the wind, the clicks and the layering. It has aged but not lost its significance to me of loving and delighting in good electronic music. 5 stars.

Bra skit! 9/10

A genius album of its time.

I didn't think I was in the mood and then wouldn't you know it, it created the mood.

It's giving "80s fantasy film with a demented good synth soundtrack that doesn't fit at all", and if you know me you know what a compliment that is. Might make a Jarre playlist for the next time I run a fantasy RPG, for the full Ladyhawke effect.

The Minecraft soundtrack if it were made in the 80s. Amazing.

Already one of my absolute faves.

Spacy and way out there in 1976. What an open and ethereal album! I love it!

Badass ambient jams.

One of the true pioneers of the electronic genre.

haunting and enchanting all at the same time, it's impressive how natural this album all sounded considering it's all synth based, this is a real treat to the ears.

Perfect electronic noise!

WOW. J'avais jamais entendu parler de cet album-là auparavant, malgré la qualité qui se trouve sous le capot. Une sorte de musique électro à la Kraftwerk, couplé d'une prestance symphonique qui varie de la lourdeur dramatique d'un grand orchestre à la légèreté planante d'un smooth solo jazz au piano. Magnifico, si je puis me permettre.

This is so much my jam I feel like it was pulled straight out of my head. My standouts: Part 2, Part 3, Part 5

funky spooky groovy

I absolutely loved this and I had never heard of this guy before. It’s pure synth fantasia, evolving from soundscapes to recognizable popular song structure then devolving back again in to a soundscape and experimental manipulation for the ending. I didn’t want it to end. Some of the “high level” solo tracking sounds the tiniest bit dated, I can’t figure out why but it does, but that doesn’t take away from it. To think this was made in 1976, it’s incredible. This could come out today on a niche label and you wouldn’t even have to label it “retro”. I need the vinyl for this yesterday.

4.5☆/5 11.07.2024

What a treat. It still sounds good today; albeit dated, but in a good way. You really can see how this album influenced much of the electronic music in the 80s and possibly into the 90s.

This was unexpectedly awesome. I feel like I've listened to this before. I listen to a lot of ambient/frequency type music and I'm sure Spotify would've recommended this to me. But this is really perfect for walking the dog around the block, before the sun's up and having coffee.

Love this album, like Scott says it needs a sound system to do it justice. Killer album and remember watching the live show years ago on council telly :)

dang. what a vibe.

Love that ‘70’s synth!! Fantastic display of ‘70’s analogue synth. Perhaps a little ahead of its time and clearly and influence on LCD Sound System

yeah!!!

i love this, what a weird and wonderful collection of synths

Ethereal, mind bending, and innovative. Oxygene (along with Equinox) is Jean-Michel Jarre's most famous work and most enduring. It is a swirling mass of tones, melodies, and beats and represents one of the critical peices of 70s electronica. It's effect on later techno, electronica, new age, and, especially, stoned college students is vast. Oxygene is an amazing work when you want to expand your mind and chill your soul.

Amazing! This is one of the albums that has made slogging through all the crap on this list worth it.

Absolutely love this synth stuff, great music and sounds a bit like Mamman Sani my love

fantastic

A classic album, great artwork. Been a staple for years. Stoked to pull this for a lazy Sunday morning listen. 5 stars always.

experimental electronic/ambient. Loved it

When I brought my first serious stereo in the late '70's Oxygene 4 was the go-to track all the salesmen used to show off their kit's prowess. Been off my radar for decades now so it's great to see the whole album holding up so well. A timeless masterpiece that needs to be listened to through top quality headphones to do it justice.

Ah this took me back. I remember the first time I heard it (part 4 at any rate) and being absolutely enthralled and it got a pretty good airing when JMJ played Docklands when I was at Uni. Love it.

I have a personal fond memory of Jean-Michel Jarre. I was at a Fuck Buttons gig in Paris, with a friend who often worked in the venue where the Scottish electronic powerhouse duo was playing that day. Thanks to my friend, we stayed in the venue after the show, and as we hung around next to the small stage sipping beer, I noticed that a man was chatting there with one of the Fuck Buttons guys, just as the latter was unplugging his pedals and putting away his miscellaneous gear in flycases (don't remember if the Fuck Buttons guy was Andrew Hung or Benjamin John Power). I couldn't hear what the visitor was saying, but he sure looked enthused to be there, pointing at this or that electronic device and asking questions about them. At times, it felt like he was explaining how he used said device himself. Or maybe he was just pointing out how such and such electronic gizmo had created such a great sound for one of the tracks played during the show... The Fuck Buttons guy was smiling, and nodded politely the whole time. But he didn't talk much, busy as he was. You could sense that he was flattered by the youthful enthusiasm of his interlocutor, even if it was not exactly the right time to chew the fat with him. It was as if an uncle of his had paid him a visit, and he was doing his best to make that endearing uncle feel at ease, even if he had other concerns in his mind at that exact moment... After a while, I realized I knew who the man was. He looked like he was in his forties, yet in truth, he was much older than that. And as a lot of French people know, Jean-Michel Jarre is one of those individuals who seem to age very slowly, having that eternally youthful outward appearance that makes one suspect of vampiric qualities. My friend confirmed the man was Jarre indeed, probably in Fuck Buttons' guest list that night. Honestly, it was refreshing to see an artist who was in his sixties by that time express such enthusiasm for being at a small show given by an act from a generation far younger than his. Jarre's music lost its relevance a long time ago, yet if you read stuff about his latest albums, you soon discover that a lot of younger prestigious guests populate some of them (like Fuck Buttons indeed, but also Air, M83, Gesaffelstein, Massive Attack's 3D, or even Moby...). Given the currently small commercial impact of those rather confidential records, I'm pretty sure that the presence of those guests mostly stems from a very sincere knack for collaborations of all kinds, instead of any cynical calculation to boost album sales or personal rep, whether for the guests or for the host. During the eighties, Jarre was yet in another league of musicians. He would famously give some mega-concerts worldwide, which were desperate-yet-also-hugely-successful attempts to translate such nerdy aesthetics into rock arenas. Heck, even arenas were too small for Jarre's ambitions, hence why he routinely broke insane records when it came to the number of people attending the shows. You had all sorts of insane stuff happening during those mega-shows--Jarre grabbing a "synth-guitar", gigantic screens, loads of pyrotechnics, not to mention that crazy staging for his "laser harp" that saw rays of light cross one side of the pit to the next. Nice that decades after those grandiose shows aiming at being "popular" at all cost, the man was now seemingly more in touch with what up-and-coming electronic acts were doing, and that he even went to small venues to see them do their thing. It's a stance that appeared as being miles away from what he had accomplished during the first fifteen years of his career under his name--even if said later stance probably never yielded anything as arresting and wonderfully poetic as Jarre's official 1976 debut *Oxygène* (in spite of attempts to release "sequels" to it in the 21st century). The seventies were a golden age for precursors in the field of electronic music. You had German kosmische wizards such as Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Cluster, Neu! or Kraftwerk. You also had Brian Eno's "ambient" series. But what set Jean-Michel Jarre apart from all of them was his impulse to create so many memorable and straightforward melodies surging from his cold analog magma. Kraftwerk admittedly had a knack for innocent-sounding melodies as well--ones you could even hum in the shower--but theirs always had pastiche overtones that Jarre didn't seem interested in. In *Oxygène* you can sense some more immediate, and less conceptual endeavor at play. And if that earnestness was criticized as naive by the UK press at the time of the album's release, this mix of *naïveté* and avant-garde leanings is, retrospectively--and quite ironically--what makes the album sound like no other one today, even within Jarre's discography. Those criticisms were valid in the sense that they predicted the artistic dead-ends and many cheesefest "commercial" turns the French musician would be known for later. Yet those early critics totally missed what *Oxygène* was doing so well within the confines Jarre had set for himself--somewhere in the uncharted haze between Pierre Schaeffer's *musique concrète* and blatantly pop ambitions. And what it was doing so well was to create the rarest of animal: truly timeless music acting as a perfect bridge between the past and the future. In a way, Jarre very much acted as a "remixer" here. Not through literal remixes--mid-seventies gear would never have allowed him to create them anyway--but through his compositional work. A lot of his ideas indeed hearken back to Bach, Beethoven, Mahler or Debussy--that dark and solemn "orchestral" climax soaring above arid soundscapes towards the end of "Part 1" ; the very animated Bach-like fugue in fantastic album highlight "Part 2" ; the slow, 'andante' introduction of "Part 5", followed by that livelier section, where, for that particular round, the melody winks at Ravel's "Bolero". There are also forays into subliminally jazzier territories--best exemplified by the latin-tinged drum machine and its cheap rendition of rhumba and bossa-nova rhythms on "Part 6", whose "breathing" sound also ends the album on a note that's disturbingly ominous, and yet also soothing somehow. Equally ominous are the impressionistic synth spikes darting the bulk of *Part 1*, over which a spooky shrill whistle hovers like a lonesome bat in the twilight, reminding you of a theremin or Ondes Martenot. In keeping with Michel Granger's iconic artwork for the album, the mood is delightfully post-apocalyptic here. It aptly illustrates the impressions of the last scattered batch of humans living in a emptied, dilapidated earth where nature would slowly regain its rights at last. The obvious ecological message hasn't aged a day, it goes without saying--even if it's conveyed by a music that's 100% instrumental. Synth layers and echo-drenched immensities sure abound, but they're also telling a very relatable story, one as epic as it can be heartbreaking if it falls in the right set of ears. Something very "human" after all... "Part 3", which is one of the most famous Jarre compositions, is where all the different influences and leads listed up there mesh into a single whole, with a minor-keyed tune which is as melancholic as it is strangely light-hearted, and whose simplicity and "humanity" is at odds with the background plastic-sounding gloss, here propelled by that distinctive airy drum machine--grinding, enticing, and delicate all at the same time. Here is the sort of balance between naive-sounding compositional work and richly flavored soundscapes Jarre would rarely attain in his subsequent releases--except for subsequent LP *Equinoxe*, for all intents and purposes a perfect follow-up to *Oxygène*... Starting with 1981's *The Magnetic Fields*, the French composer--now turned into an star as he went through the delusions of grandeur that his massive concerts were--indeed often stumbled upon interesting-yet-ultimately-flawed experiments with different "world music" styles (the *My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts*-adjacent *Zoolook*, incidentally boasting a groundbreaking use of samples and sequencers, or later *En Attendant Cousteau*). Worse, he also frequently dived headfirst into grand statements where European classical music influences took over again, unfortunately yielding albums that managed to sound both annoyingly pompous and incredibly childish and hackneyed at the same time (*Rendez Vous*, *Revolutions*...). Some listeners with a knack for cheap psychoanalysis would even argue that this second trend was a way for Jarre to compete with his estranged father, Hollywood film composer Maurice Jarre... But there's no need to act like a two-cent shrink here. What matters is that 90% of all this has aged *horribly*, period. Yet now that the dreadful eighties period of Jarre's discography is long gone, I hope many listeners with an open mind and an interest in great electronic music will discover *Oxygène* again. The kitchen-sink approach Jarre used to record his debut (sellotape was reportedly used to fix inadequate or partly-broken instruments), born out of constraints stemming from the technological limits of the time period rather than anything else, unwittingly brought a sonic palette that's as effective today as it was in 1976. The now "retro" canvas (or, should I say, the *pre-retro-futuristic* canvas) even bring *more* melancholic emotions to an album that was already filled to the brim with them. If anything, *Oxygène* sounds better in 2024 than it originally did. Surely, that rare occurence guarantees a place for it in a list of the best albums of all time, doesn't it? Number of albums left to review: 91 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 392 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 228 Albums from the list I certainly won't include in mine: 289

UFO aux cord

I almost switched off from this while listening to the first song. It wasn't really fitting my vibe at work. But holy I'm glad I didn't because the rest of the album did NOT disappoint. Pt. 2 and 4 especially caught my attention. It's also really cool to hear sounds like this from 1977 when synthesizers were really just first becoming popular. I love the analogue feel of some of the sounds he used.

The OG analogue instrumental synth album - Kraftwerk's melancholy vocals were always an integral part of their sound. Pt 4 an absolute banger, though it's also clear how much of this came from experimental as well as disco. Essential. Also managed to create a sound that sounds as French as Kraftwerk are German: the word sophistication comes to mind here. As George Bush might say, the French just have no word for chic.

Oxygène was actually the second album I've heard back then. The first was Equinoxe, which I had borrowed from our public library. This was around 1980. I was mesmerized by the sound. So I lent Oxygène the next time. And of course I recognized Part IV instantly. Fan erver since.

Nowadays this sounds like the soundtrack to some indie game. Back then it probably sounded like something else. I love how this music creates a mysterious vibe and can get you „out of space“. I‘m usually not too much into electronica but this one caught me.

unlike tubular bells, this felt like a cohesive whole. It was a bop throughout!